A Hero Named Song
by Lycorise
Summary: Hana returns home from the military, and deals with personal loss from the war. Set after the 2nd Omnic Crisis.


A quick foray into writing Hana. Might expand in the...distant future.

* * *

Her footsteps faltered upon reaching this familiar stretch of road; familiar, yet so foreign that she was forced to pause a moment, to make sure this was the right neighbourhood.

She was back in Seoul. She was returning home. After 5 long years of fighting in the 2nd Omnic Crisis and 1 year of training the next generation of MEKA pilots, First Lieutenant Hana Song had finally left the army with an honorable discharge, and a respectable row of medals pinned to her chest.

Looking down at said medals as if to verify their presence, Hana took a deep breath and straightened the lapels of her dress uniform, continuing up the smooth tarred road towards her home. This neighbourhood had been destroyed during the Crisis, and according to her parents, their house was reduced to rubble after two waves of omnic attacks. Judging by how pristine and sturdy these new houses looked, it seemed the government had spared no effort at reconstruction. It was as if there had been no war at all.

While she was halfway up the road, an excited shout of her name caught her by surprise. She spotted its source immediately – a middle-aged housewife waving at her frantically from the opposite sidewalk.

 _Oh boy… It's Auntie Ha-eun._

After glancing up and down the road, the woman flew over to Hana's side of the street.

 _Ah crap, here it comes–!_

"Hana!" she cried and flung herself right at Hana, both arms wrapping around her shoulders in a tight hug.

"Hello, Auntie–," Hana couldn't even finish her greeting when Ha-eun started wailing.

"Oh my little Hana! My brave little Hana! You're finally back…"

"Yes, yes. Here I am," Hana said soothingly, patting the older woman's back. Then she was yanked backwards and given a slow once-over.

"You've grown so much," Ha-eun said. "How old are you now? 23? 24?"

"25, Auntie."

"Yes, so grown now!" Ha-eun patted at her dress uniform, squeezing about her shoulders and biceps. "Look at you! You look so smart in that uniform. You even have muscles now!"

"Yeah, the army tends to force them on you," Hana deadpanned as her neighbour went on.

"And look at this!" She held Hana's cheeks in both hands. "All your baby fat is gone!"

"My baby fat's been gone for more than 10 years, Auntie. Are you trying to say I was fat?"

"No no! Of course not," Ha-eun laughed, and Hana noticed how much slimmer the woman had become. Things must've been hard on her. "Ah, but look at me. Delaying you when your parents are waiting."

"Wait–," Hana said. "My parents are waiting?"

"Yes? They took leave since yesterday." Ha-eun leaned in and whispered, "Your mother's been cooking since then. Save me some of her pancakes, okay?"

"Alright," Hana chuckled. "That's if I don't finish them all first." She grinned and winked, walking on after she received a scoff and light slap on the arm.

It didn't take long before she reached her family's residence. She stood before the gates, taking in the sight of the new house. Its design was more modern now – all harsh angles and slopes with large glass windows along the walls. Like the old one, it was painted white with a dark grey roof. Though a little part of her wanted to lay eyes on the house she had left 6 years ago, the new residence _did_ look snazzy and rich.

 _Take some good with the bad, I guess._

Hana pushed at metal gates, smiling when it swung open easily. Her family never did lock the gates during the day, if they were at home. In fact, no one else along the street did. Why should they? This was a good neighbourhood…and their residential area was protected by guards 24/7. They were not only a good neighbourhood, but also one of the wealthier ones. Little mishaps happened here.

She walked up the concrete pavement, and took out her keys when she reached the door. She tried poking it into the keyhole, but it didn't fit – as expected. So Hana pressed the doorbell and waited. She took the time to look herself over again, adjusting her service cap and making sure no strand of hair had escaped its military bun. She was adjusting a medal on her chest when she heard a click from the door, and snapped to attention.

Her heart stopped at the sight of her mother and father standing by the door. Her father wore a new pair of frameless glasses, his neatly-combed hair bearing more silver streaks than she remembered. Her mother had her hair dyed a dark shade of brown as always, though the lines on her face gave her age away.

Hana's throat clogged all of a sudden, as seconds stretched into minutes…the Song family reunited after all those years of war. To Hana's horror, her vision started blurring as tears welled up in her eyes. But her mother broke into tears first, and stepped forward to wrap her daughter in an embrace.

"Ma," Hana laughed as tears cut down her own cheeks. "Why are you crying? I'm not coming home in a casket–"

Her mother gasped and drew back, tapping her mouth reprovingly. "Shush! Don't speak such nonsense the moment you come home–"

Hana smiled when her ploy worked – she wiped at her own eyes as her mother forgot about crying, and started nagging about how she should mind her words, that the military must've been where she picked up all this nonsense, and now that she's back she should–

"Dear." Hana's father stepped in and rested a hand on his wife's shoulder, bringing her chiding to a halt. As she sighed, father and daughter met in a quick hug. "I missed you, my little champion."

Hana blinked – _not_ to clear her moist eyes again – and grinned up at him. "I missed you too."

He smiled, eyes crinkling at the corners. Reaching down to hold Hana's hand, he started towards the house. "Now come in, we have some food waiting for you–" He paused when Hana stayed rooted on the spot, and cocked his head curiously.

"Hana," her mother said when she set her backpack down on the pavement. "What are you doing?"

"Something that's long overdue."

Hana brought her hands up to eye level, resting her right hand on the left. She bowed her head, and bent her legs. But before she could fully sink into the formal bow, two pairs of hands grabbed onto her arms, holding her still.

"Ma–"

"What are you doing!" her mother exclaimed, face scrunching up again. "Don't bow to us."

"But I–"

"We don't deserve it, Hana," said her father through a watery smile – a bad sign. Hana's mother cried more often than her father, but when her father shed tears, he wouldn't be the only one doing so.

"Pa, I–" Hana sank to her knees – her legs were getting tired in that half-bent position – and her parents followed suit.

"You are the hero, my little one." He gestured at the medals she wore. "You are the one who fought and kept us all alive. If anything, we should be bowing to _you_."

"No," Hana laughed, not caring that her tears were falling once more. "That would be scandalous." She let herself be pulled into an embrace once more, clinging onto her parents as they sniffled together in a group huddle. "Look at us, crying and kneeling and hugging each other. What is this? A fucking drama?"

" _Hana Song! Language!_ "

* * *

After bringing her into the house, her parents gave her a tour around their new home first, and brought Hana into her designated room – which was set up with the comfiest bed she had ever seen, and an impressive gaming rig on her study table. She had given them another hug for that, then an extra one when she laid eyes on the dinner they were cooking up for the night. She was banished from the kitchen after trying to help one too many times, and practically had all kinds of meat fed right into her mouth by her mother. Only after Hana fed her mother a piece of fish and cooed at her in baby talk that she desisted with a laugh, rapping on Hana's head with her knuckles.

Her parents refused to let her go after dinner, and she spent an hour regaling them with stories from her time in the military. She left out all the ugly details, of course. No need to burst her parents' happy and proud little bubble. After finishing the big bowl of ice cream pushed into her hands, Hana announced her need for some rest, and ran back up to her bedroom.

She spent a little time unpacking, before she became distracted by the old portable gaming device sitting in her cupboard. She grabbed it immediately and fell into bed, losing a few matches in the fighting game because she had clean forgotten the winning combos. And her hands weren't used to the flat gamepads anyway – she'd been using two joysticks and top-tier technology–

Hana squeezed her eyes shut, banishing the images of her MEKA's interior from her mind.

 _I'm home. Think of home. Be at home._

Without looking, she shut the device off and let it fall to the bed. Hana lifted her eyelids and turned her head, gaze falling on the study table. _Hm_. She sat up and made a beeline for the computer, turning it on as she settled into the cushioned chair. The gaming rig took just a few seconds to start up, and Hana smiled when the desktop came into view. All her games and apps were already installed – even the desktop icons were in the exact same places as in her old rig.

 _Good old dad._

Her mouse hovered over the Starcraft icon for a few seconds, before it drifted away to another game. One she had played regularly with her old teammates – the group with whom she had been drafted into the MEKA unit. She double-clicked, and sat through the intro cinematics for nostalgia's sake. A small black icon appeared in the corner just as the main menu loaded, and she clicked on it. The group chat. Only her display picture had a small green dot next to it – she was the only one online.

 _The only one alive._

Hana shook her head roughly, as if to dislodge that little shard of reality embedded deep in her consciousness. She couldn't. Swallowing hard through a constricted throat, she opened the voice channel.

"Hey guys," she said cheerily. "I'm back."

No reply. Of course there was no reply. What else did she expect? Nevertheless, she kept the voice channel open as she chose her main character for the game. She drummed her fingers as the world loaded. This game was touted a 'hardcore' survival simulation – it had permanent deaths that marred your record, and only the best tactics would see you through battles with opposing coalitions. Each coalition could have up to 50 people, but Hana's only had 10 – including herself. 10 of the best that Korea had to offer, 10 of the best no one could beat.

 _No one._

She took a moment to reorient herself to the urban landscape she had spawned in, and breathed in deep. She slipped back into the old routine quickly – scout, scavenge, plan, attack, loot, rest. Hana made sure to check her corners and look over her shoulder, moving along cautiously as she took down several wandering parties by herself. 9 enemy parties, in fact. 1 for each name in the coalition. Her area of the map soon became sparse with other players, and she was left to wander around by herself. She had never realised how lonely the game could become…how hollow her footsteps could ring in each ruined building.

Hana started growing slack in her caution, leaving herself out in the open more often. Then she heard a shuffle off to the side, and shot a round in that direction reflexively. She eased off on the trigger though, lifting her finger from the mouse as she watched the sole other player poke her head through a crumbling door. 'Her' according to the character avatar anyway. She poked her head out again when Hana pressed on the 'Hello!' voiceline without shooting.

Hana waited as the other player approached cautiously, and after a while of spamming just 'Hello!' to each other, Hana typed into the chat.

[Hey, you alone?]

 _[Yeah, new player :p]_

 _[Are you Hana Song? I mean, from your ID tag and all…]_

[Yeah I am :)]

 _[Aw man this is so cool! I watch your streams all the time!]_

 _[I'm a fan! You're a hero :D]_

[Heh thanks]

 _[So…you wanna group up? It'll be so cool to kick some ass together]_

[Sure]

 _[Yay]_

Hana followed the newbie around for a while, teaching her little tips and tricks to survive, and impressing her beyond measure when they took down a team of 6 with minimal injuries. Soon, they reached the 7th night cycle in the game, and were huddled in a secure old building to rest.

[Hey I'm leaving now]

 _[Aw :(( ]_

[Mind doing me a favour?]

 _[Yeah!]_

[Could you kill me pls?]

 _[:O]_

 _[Why? Your level's so high it's a waste! Your equipment are too good to lose too…]_

[Nah. They don't mean anything–]

Hana paused, then deleted that message.

[Nah. I don't get attached to my equipment]

[Besides, I think it's time to join my friends]

 _[? What you mean?]_

[Lolol nvm. Anw just do it. And you can get all my sweet equipment ;D]

 _[But…]_

[And you can tell ppl you beat Hana Song in this game. Eh? Eh?]

 _[Can I add you as a friend tho?]_

[Yeah sure]

Hana accepted the request.

[So. Let's do it]

 _[Aight. I'll see you next time!]_

[Sure. Bye.]

A gunshot rang out, and Hana's avatar finally collapsed to the ground after a 684 kill streak.

Hana's lips curved into a wan smile as she whispered, "That'll have to do for now, guys."

* * *

She spent the next few days being pampered endlessly by her parents and the entire neighbourhood. On one memorable evening, they had a potluck in the Song residence, where their neighbours showed up with only the best dishes they had to offer. After all, it was to thank their young war hero for putting her life on the line – for them, and for the entire country. She felt a pang of guilt each time someone mentioned to her parents, _"At least she's back and safe now. You don't have to worry anymore."_

Hana had sat on that little piece of news for a while, waiting for two weeks before she sat her parents down in the living room one night.

After making them promise not to divulge anything to anyone, she said quietly, "I'm going to join Overwatch."

"What!" they exclaimed in unison.

Her father continued, "But Hana, the omnic crisis is over. Shouldn't you take a rest–?"

"No. We might be done with the omnics for now, but there's still trouble on the horizon. I can't sit back and let it happen."

"What trouble?" her mother asked.

"I–, I can't tell you."

"Hana…"

"Hana, please," her father said. "Please reconsider before you go joining up with some…ruined organisation."

"They're not ruined, pa. They're–" Hana sighed, piecing her words together so it wouldn't reveal too much. "Let's just say I encountered one of them during one of my missions. And…I spoke to them. They're putting themselves back together." She straightened her shoulders. "I already told them I'd join."

"Surely you can think it over…"

"Pa," Hana said. "The world still needs heroes, even if it thinks otherwise. And this hero–" She pointed a thumb at herself. "–isn't going stay at home while there's work to do." She flashed her signature smirk, even if it felt a little hollow at the moment.

Her father regarded her gravely, before reaching forward to take her hand. He returned her smirk, albeit with resignation. "A champion needs to be tested constantly, huh."

Hana nodded, finishing their little adage, "And a true champion will always emerge victorious."


End file.
